John Hall
}}="hiddenStructure" | colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | Hall at the EWA 10th Anniversary Show in 2012 |- |- class }="hiddenStructure" style="padding-right: 1.2em; vertical-align: top;" ! style="width: 10em;" | Ring name(s) | John Hall Unknown |- class }="hiddenStructure" style="padding-right: 1.2em; vertical-align: top;" ! style="width: 10em;" | Billed height | 6 ft (1.82 m) |- class }="hiddenStructure" style="padding-right: 1.2em; vertical-align: top;" ! style="width: 10em;" | Billed weight | 220 lbs (100 kg) |- class }="hiddenStructure" style="padding-right: 1.2em; vertical-align: top;" ! style="width: 10em;" | Born | April 23, 1985 (age 28) Middletown, New York |- class }="hiddenStructure" style="padding-right: 1.2em; vertical-align: top;" ! style="width: 10em;" | Billed from |Chicago, Illinois |- class }="hiddenStructure" style="padding-right: 1.2em; vertical-align: top;" ! style="width: 10em;" | Trained by | Jack Squat Josh Storm |- class }="hiddenStructure" style="padding-right: 1.2em; vertical-align: top;" ! Debut | May 20, 2005 |} Brian Bennett (born April 23, 1985), better known by his ring names John Hall '''and '''Unknown, is a professional wrestler, most notably working for the World Wrestling Xistence promotion. He was notorious for being controversial and problematic in his promos and backstage towards management, and for his extremely violent matches. Early life Bennett was born in Middletown, New York, and was raised by his parents for the first two years of his life until moving to Harriman, New York (to which his finishing move, the Harriman Driver, ''was named in tribute) with his grandparents, because his biological parents were unable to take care of him due to mental illness. When he was seven, he moved to Tampa, Florida with his grandparents to be closer to family. After graduating high school, Bennett enrolled at the University of Chicago to study computer science. However after his second semester of school, he dropped out to pursue a full-time career in professional wrestling. Professional Wrestling Career Early career Bennett was trained at the Elite Wrestling Association Wrestling Academy in Chicago, by Jack Squat and Josh Storm. After graduating, he joined the Elite Wrestling Association, based in Chicago, and immediately began teaming with his trainer Josh Storm, under the name Unknown. Known as the Faith Breakers (having Atheist gimmicks), the two quickly began feuding with the Atomic Punks, Travis Vans and Cowboy, in a feud that would last almost two years. It was in EWA where he met Valerie Knot, who became wrestling manager (and future real-life wife). Ironically, he played a mute character in EWA and never spoke a word during his entire three tenure; Storm and Knot always spoke for him. He toured Japan several times early in his career, where he further developed his strong style and striking ability. He also began working deathmatches and competed in various deathmatch tournaments in Japan, Germany, and the US. He won BCW Gorefest in 2009, a prestigious deathmatch tournament held by Battleground Championship Wrestling in Northern Germany annually. By winning the tournament, he was also awarded the then vacant Bare Knuckle Championship. WWX In October 2010, Bennett was signed a contract to World Wrestling Xistence, where he had to change his name to John Hall due to there already being a wrestler named Unknown in WWX at the time. He has used the name ever since. Hall received his first match in a dark match at Hall of Pain, in a "Newcomers Challenge" 8-Man Fray, which also included most notably Ellis X. Sille and Mark Woodbridge. Hall didn't receive another match until the next pay-per-view, Phase Out, where he competed in an 8-man, four ring match, where two men faced in individual rings, each with their own special stipulation, and the four winners from each ring would meet in a fifth ring to determine the first ever Conquest Champion. Hall made it to the fifth ring, but was eliminated by Napalm Steele (who later went on to win the match). The Rise of the X-Army Hall wandered in obscurity for the next month, sparingly receiving matches on episodes of Ravage. As Hall stated in an interview, "it was awkward after the Conquest Title match. I didn't really do anything for a month or so." In February, Hall became one of the original members of the new X-Army, a stable of relative rookies led by WWX legend Shard. They immediately targeted the Global Champion, Apocalypse, and mutual foe David GS. It was around this time where Hall began to become "controversial," as he began to argue with bookers about decisions being made about the X-Army. In the February pay-per-view, Aftershock, Hall was a part of a six-man Electrified Hell in a Cell match for the Global Title, which included three other members of the X-Army - Shard, Jimmy Love and Sparrow - David GS, and Apocalypse. This match was a turning point in his WWX career, in that it was his first main event and Global Title shot. Hall was electrocuted twice in the match (more times than any other competitor), and was legitimately injured from it. He did not miss any dates from the injury, but he vowed to never do a match with electricity again. This was also another source of his backstage bickering, as he complained that the more experienced competitors (DGS and Apocalypse) took advantage of him. King of the Deathmatches In early 2011, Hall collaborated with Mark Woodbridge (Television Champion at the time) behind the scenes to book a death match tournament (Woodbridge took the on air role as the curator of the event, but Hall had just as much a part in it, as revealed by Hall over a year later and confirmed in a shoot interview by Woodbridge). In March, the first annual WWX King of the Deathmatches tournament was announced, with Hall as one of the participants. In the first round, Hall defeated Spider (a wrestler who was brought in to job to Hall in the first round), in an Into the Wild Deathmatch (barefoot thumbtacks, sandspurs, pinecones, salt and torches). He went on to Armada, to face Steven PS in the second round in a Barbed Wire Cage, Fans Bring the Weapons Deathmatch. It was in this match where most will say Hall made a name for himself, by almost beating SPS. In the finishing spot, Hall hit the Harriman Driver off of a scaffold that was on top of the cage, legitimately fifteen feet high, through four tables to the concrete floor. Although he executed the move, after the fall, SPS landed with his arm on top of him and pinned Hall (it was revealed over a year later in a quasi-shoot in-ring promo that Hall intentionally put SPS's arm over him after the move because he did not want to win his own tournament). It was in this match where Hall received the infamous scar on his right bicep, after a spot where he was thrown through a barbed wire part of the cage, ripping open the muscle. Hall taped the arm up and continued the match, but had to be rushed to the hospital immediately after the match to close the wound. International Championship, Trilogy with Steven PS, and Suspension The night after Armada, John Hall defeated Xavier Pendragon to win the International Championship, his first WWX title. He vowed to bring respect back to the title, and he said he would hand-pick his opponents. This comment made on live television was not approved by management beforehand, and was ignored when Hall was booked to defend the title against Steven PS at the following pay-per-view, Deadlock. This caused a legitimate stir backstage, where Hall believed he was doing the right thing but management would not listen to him and disregarded what he said to the live audience. Hall would go on to lose the title at Deadlock to Steven PS, in a match that sharply contrasted their first encounter. The match was very mat-based and technical, and received a four and a half star rating from Dave Peltzer. After Deadlock, Hall began to state that Steven PS got lucky in their first encounter and he had SPS beaten. He admitted to losing fairly in their second encounter, but he wanted his rematch for the title. James Ranger, Fury general manager, agreed that if Hall played by his rules and agreed to his terms (and would, in non-kayfabe, comply with him and management), Hall would get his rematch at the following pay-per-view, Bloodshed. Hall agreed and complied with the terms, and chose his match at Bloodshed with SPS to be a Fish Hook Deathmatch (the ropes are replaced with fishing line and have fish hooks hanging from them), where the stipulations would be in his favor and he knew he could beat him. At Bloodshed, Hall and SPS had a gruesome match that lasted over half an hour, including several disgusting spots involving fish hooks; one in which SPS put a fish hook ''through both of Hall's cheeks. Hall was originally scheduled to win the match at Bloodshed, however management changed their minds at the last moment due to an ongoing struggle with Hall backstage. Personal differences between Hall, Ranger, and Tommy Lipton had been brewing for months and Hall and them had major issues working with each other, finding it hard to agree on things such as booking decisions. Hall was very open on his opinions of the WWX creative team who worked on storylines and booked matches, and this led to several backstage confrontations, most of which led to Hall cursing them all out, telling them to "go fuck themselves" and calling them "marks." In addition to changing their minds about Hall winning, Hall was suspended immediately after the pay-per-view. To make the suspension kayfabe, Hall was arrested in storyline for using illegal drugs to make him immune to pain immediately after losing the match at Bloodshed. Hall was written off of TV for two months. Feud with Sucio and World Series At Deadlock, X-Army leader Shard had his retirement match, losing to Mark Woodbridge. The retirement was a surprise to everyone, including members of the X-Army (who were informed of his retirement at the same time he informed the fans). After the departure of Shard, the X-Army was left without a leader. A few weeks after Deadlock, a new leader of the X-Army was named: Sucio. Sucio took a liking to Hall, and Hall became his right-hand man over other members of the group. After Hall was suspended, the X-Army desinegrated and Sucio began speaking of a "revolution" while referring to Hall in vague and obscure promos. At World Series, Sucio made an appearance before the World Series match (something that has never been done before, as the show always has only the match and no segments or promos), and stated that his "revolution" was not Hall and Sucio, but was Hall versus Sucio. Hall made a surprise return, and began brawling with Sucio. Following the brawl, Hall took the microphone and began venting what he had been through for the past two months (in storyline). Then he began to shoot, calling Sucio a drug addict and taking shots at Tommy Lipton (who was in the crowd). Hall brought Lipton out of the crowd to settle it once and for all like men, and Lipton brought both Hall and Sucio into the ring to try to play peacemaker. Hall and Sucio revealed in a joint interview that the original plan was for Hall to stab Lipton with a shank in the center of the ring, for shock value and to get Hall and his storyline with Sucio over with the fans. After weeks of thought, Lipton agreed to do the spot, and that was going to be the plan. However, James Ranger and Duncan McIver were skeptical about letting Lipton be stabbed in the center of the ring on live pay-per-view, and had the returning Xander Adams break it up before the stabbing took place. Hall and Sucio were both unaware that Adams would be interfeering, but Lipton was informed about it earlier. Hall became enraged and engaged in a legitimate fight with Adams, hitting him with several full-fledged punches, but was then tazered by Adams (also part of the plan by McIver, which Hall was unaware of). Backstage after the segment, Hall began flipping tables over and tearing pictures off walls, trashing offices and the locker room and cursing out McIver, enraged he was uninformed and tricked. It has been rumored that he punched out McIver in his office, but this has not been confirmed. Hall considered quitting WWX, as did his best friend Sucio. Both were promised by management that if their feud got over, they may be granted a main event match at a pay-per-view. However after the incident with Hall freaking out backstage at World Series, their feud was demoted and to only air on xCess, though they would be granted full creative control with no interference from management. Since xCess is not a major show and gets little to no attention from casual WWX viewers, Hall and Sucio were doubtful they could get their feud over enough to sell a pay-per-view. Departure After hearing he would not be allowed TV time for his feud with Sucio, Hall again confronted management. In an interview, Hall said he would be extremely heated and cursing Lipton, Ranger, McIver and Ravage general manager John Tyler out in their faces, but most of the time they would keep a straight face and try to explain themselves. Hall felt their arguments were going in circles and threatened to quit WWX. He told them what he wanted out of the company and asked if they had similar aspirations, and if they didn't, then their working relationship would never work. Without directly answering his question, Hall was fired from WWX and banned from ever appearing on WWX Television again. Return (2012) John Hall returned to the WWX just prior to World Series 2012. He was entered in the World Series match, where he eliminated then World Wrestling Champion Blaine Evans, but was eliminated shortly after. He won the Television Title from Randy Brown, and then defeated him again in a rematch. In the rematch was an infamous incident where Hall deconstructed the ring, pulling the canvas, mat and wooden boards away, creating a gaping hole in it. He then powerbombed Brown through the hole in the ring to the floor below, and pinned him. A clip of this can be seen in the current Ravage opening video package for every show. Hall lost the TV Title at Final Countdown 2012 to Darkness in a "Pudding Match." The match took place in a pool full of pudding and whipped cream, and the match was scheduled to be a four-way also including Tanno and Lost Soul, but Tanno was attacked prior to the match by Darkson and unable to compete, and Lost Soul did not appear until the end of the match. Hall was knocked out by Lost Soul and was subsequently pinned by Darkson. In January 2013, Hall defeated Steven PS in a qualifying match for a World Title Elimination Chamber match at Holiday Hell. This was the first time Hall defeated SPS, and was the very final match of their feud as Hall vowed never to wrestle SPS one-on-one ever again. At Holiday Hell, he and Ethan Taylor teamed up to eliminate the other opponents, but he was eliminated second-last by SPS (who got into the match via a last chance battle royal). Ethan Taylor would end up deafeating SPS and winning the World Title. Taylor left WWX the following week after signing with EXPW and vacated the title. A fatal four way "Electric Floor Match" was announced, and Hall replaced Xander Adams after the card was initially announced because the bookers realized Hall made the most sense to be in the match (having earned a shot more than the other competitors). Hall announced he would quit the WWX if he did not win, as a non-kayfabe way of explaining him leaving WWX for EXPW. He lost the match, and subsequently left the company for good. Mark Wilcox (WWX CEO "Duncan McIver") stated publicly via wwxonline.com that John Hall would never be allowed to return. Other promotions After his initial departure from WWX, Hall appeared in several different smaller, independent promotions, working the same John Hall gimmick. He also returned to EWA for their Tenth Anniversary Show, defeating long-time rival Travis Vans. In February 2013, Hall was the first wrestler signed to the new promotion, EquinoX Pro Wrestling (EXPW), run by David GS and started after he and his brother Steven PS left WWX due to various reasons similar to why Hall left WWX initially in 2011. EXPW however never ran a show and was quietly shoved under the rug. Hall left WWX the day after Aftershock 2012. PWR Hall made his debut for Pro Wrestling Resistance the Storm before their PPV Mt. Doom in December, 2013. He lost his debut match via DQ to the also debuting Molly Soxx. He lost at Mt. Doom to Mark Lyons. The following week, he started a winning streak by defeating Hippie John, and subsequently defeating the Mt. Doom Flag holder Lazarus Cyrenius and Bobby Ray. Personal life Hall is married to his former wrestling manager, Valerie Knot. Together they have a son, Robert Lewis Bennett, born August 12, 2012 (Knot left the wrestling business to care for her child). He currently still resides in Chicago with his family, in an apartment building downtown where he frequently cuts promos. Hall is a LaVeyan Satanist and a huge fan of black metal music. He frequently yields Satanic images on his gear (most notably the devil on his shorts) and refers to Satanic themes in his promos, and frequently wears black metal band shirts during his matches. His arms and chest are covered in tattoos full of Satanic imagery. In Wrestling *Finishing Moves **''Harriman Driver'' (Fireman's carry dropped into an inverted piledriver) - innovated **''Monroe Driver'' (Torture Rack dropped into a piledriver) **''Unknown Driver'' (Double-underhook piledriver) *Signature Moves **Double Stomp **Yakuza Kick (to an opponent in the corner) **Stiff kicks **Super Kick **German Suplex **Backdrop Driver **''PLANCHAAAA!!!'' (Spaceman Plancha) **''Assisted Suicide'' (kneeling Cradle Piledriver) - innovated **''Grave Driver'' (kneeling Clutch Piledriver) - innovated **Death Valley Driver **Romero Special **Camel Clutch (sometimes with a Dragon Sleeper) *Nicknames **"The Man With a Thousand Ways to Break Your Neck" **"The Innovator of Offense" **"John Fuckin' Hall" **"The Antichrist (of WWX)" *Entrance Themes **"Pull the Trigger" by Through the Eyes of the Dead (with Wu-Tang-Clan intro) (EWA) **"Waiting" by Not Forgotten (with Josh Storm) **"Jedi Mind Tricks" by Heavy Metal Kings **"Sons of Belial" by The Faceless (WWX) **"Chimera" by Mayhem Championships and Accomplishments *World Wrestling Xistence **WWX International Champion (1 time) **WWX Television Champion (1 time) *Elite Wrestling Association **EWA World Tag Team Champion (2 times) - with Josh Storm **EWA World Heavyweight Champion (1 time) *World Wrestling Revolution **WWR World Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Josh Storm **WWR Hardcore Champion (3 times) **WWR Faces of Death Tournament Winner (2011) *Battleground Championship Wrestling **BCW World Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Josh Storm **BCW Bare Knuckle Champion (1 time) **BCW Gorefest Tournament Winner (2009)